Astros top 50 moments: Hunsicker steps up to the plate in 1995

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The moment: Gerry Hunsicker’s nine-year tenure as GMMoment behind the moment: Three interviews that would predict the future

The general managers for 16 years of Astros history – a wild roller coaster featuring the franchise’s highest highs and lowest lows – all virtually crossed paths in November 1995 when Drayton McLane and Tal Smith sought a successor to Bob Watson, who left for the Yankees.

Gerry Hunsicker emerged as the choice after serving four years as the assistant general manager of baseball operations, but strangely enough, the next two Astros GMs were also interviewed.

Tim Purpura, then the player relations director, and Phillies assistant GM Ed Wade were both among the candidates, and those two would oversee the Astros from 2005-2011 when the franchise made its first World Series but also fell apart as McLane prepared to sell.

Purpura’s nine years at the helm were the most successful sustained run in Astros history. They made the postseason five times under his leadership. However, he and McLane were said not to have seen eye-to-eye and parted ways the year before the only World Series berth.

And no, Jeff Luhnow wasn’t present for that 1995 round of interviews. He was still eight years away from his first full-time job in baseball.